1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for the transfer of information from an information source to information receivers, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for the transfer of information from an information source to information receivers that can be connected to each other and to a central information source.
2. Discussion of Background Information
In today""s complex communications and data-engineering systems, an increasing range of functions is becoming peripheral. Examples of this trend are modem communications systems with more and more intelligent terminals. These terminals exhibit numerous performance features and auxiliary means (e.g. monitors) that allow the user to easily make use of a wide variety of functions. Another result of the shift of intelligence into the periphery is that, with a central system units failure, the entire system does not fail, but rather, only a reduction in its performance capacity is an unavoidable effect.
Modem, intelligent telecommunications terminals are program-controlled and equipped with at least one processor that communicates with central units of the communications system. A thousand or more terminals can be connected to large systems, whereby programs and data necessary for handling communications functions are stored in each terminal. Often, large quantities of program code and data are at issue. In the course of the refinement of the system, or because of operator-specific changes in configuration, program code and/or data in the terminals must be completely or partially updated. In the updating of the terminals, it is advantageous if the terminals can be executed from a single, central location (program memory, database) simultaneously with operation, in other words, without having to interrupt the system operation, and thereby if the existing system infrastructure can be used with as few changes as possible. Moreover, the updating should require as little time as possible, so that the readiness of the system for operation is impaired for only a short timexe2x80x94if at all.
The time factor is most significant when a large number of terminals with large quantities of code and data must be updated. A common problem is then a transfer capacity between the central location and the terminals to be updated that is inadequate for the temporal requirements.
This problem does not only occur, as explained above, in telecommunications applications. It is a fundamental problem in any sort of complex systems in which a number of peripheral units must be updated in terms of data from a central location. This is also the case, for example, in large data-processing systems and data networks.
It is therefore the task of the present invention to disclose a method that permits the transfer of large quantities of program code and data (hereinafter also referred to simply as xe2x80x9cinformationxe2x80x9d) in a system from a central location to many peripheral locations of the system and in the shortest possible time and thereby optimally utilizing the available transfer capacity.
This task is accomplished by the present invention of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments and an application of the invention are disclosed herein.
The distribution of information in accordance with the invention occurs in a sort of chain reaction that is triggered from a central location of the system and then involves all of the peripheral system locations to be supplied with new information in consecutive steps. Thus, large quantities of identical information can be transferred quickly to numerous peripheral locations. Further advantages of the method become apparent from the following description of an embodiment.